The Hanisch family origins meet the same timetable that Bohemia and Silesia. Moreover, the roots of the family are located in the Isergebirge range where those regions join their borders with Lusatia. The family name is a Germanized slavish patronymic which means son of Johann or (Han in old German language) and was used in Silesia as of the XI or XII centuries by companions of Leopold "the Virtuous", duke of Austria, in the third crusade. The family coat of arms was used since then, but it was officially recognized during the XIV century under the Emperor Carl IV’s rule.Some privileges were granted to a family member that was entitled as knight during the first half of the XV century during the Religious Bohemian revolution. The family Schäffgötsche, dukes of Greifenberg, which border with Bohemia was vulnerable to Hussite raids, appointed local horseback warriors to reinforce their security as feudal lords of Greifenthal, a hilly and unfertile place close to the frontier. Greifenthal is located south from Giehren (currently Gierczyn) in the Queis River source, with no remarkable remains of better days. Some foundations of a ruined medieval fortress and surrounding abandoned mines are the only sign of a relevant former activity, but at its time was a defensive frontline against Bohemian army raids. After the Hussite wars ended, the family abandoned their meager feud and moved towards the victor Austrian Empire.

The family name has been spelled in varied ways according to times and places: Hanisch, Hänisch, Hänysch, Heinisch, Hanis, Hansch and Hanitsch. The noble branch used the name Hanisch von Greifenthal, either adding the prefix Schober (Schubert) or alone. They were already part of the Holy Roman Empire’s council of knights in 1609 during the rule of Rudolf II. During the XVII century, the cruel thirty years war split the family in Catholic and Protestant branches that emigrated to Prussia after their defeat.

The family was ennobled in November 4, 1695, by rule of the emperor Leopold I von Habsburg. Later they were knighted in the Saint Wenceslaus’ order, and prominently became Bohemian crown guardians of the Imperial Knights council until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1804. The Austrian branch split itself in two lines: Reyl-Hanisch Ritter (Knight) von Greifenthal and Hanisch Freiherr (Baron) von Greifenthal. The Prussian branch used the title Von Schubert (Schober) Hanisch Edler (Lord) von Greifenthal. The Austrian branch lost its nobility titles after the end of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in 1919 and the Prussian, its nobility titles and properties after the French invasion in 1807.

Both families were finally expelled from Silesia and Sudetenland in 1945 after Germany was defeated in the world war II.

Some controversies were raised about the original places where the family came from. Since centuries ago, it has been told a famous legend about a heroic Bohemian knight called Johannes Hanisch von Greifenthal that helped Huguenots to flee from France and settle down in Daubhausen, Hesse. They were running away from the french army which had the mission to annihilate them, but the legendary knight led safely more than 37 families to a shelter in Germany, more tolerant then with religious dissentness. Today their final refuge is called Daubhausen-Greifenthal but there are no evidences to prove such story. Investigations have been conducted to reach the truth about the legend without major success, nonetheless, researches clearly state the Silesian origins of the Hanisch family in the XII century, when they became crusaders, and their later emigration to the Kingdom of Bohemia.